NEW YORK — Over the weekend, Joe Girardi was asked if it was a luxury to field the same lineup three consecutive days. Such a development isn’t usually cause for celebration. But for the Yankees, a club decimated by injuries for the last 17 months, the manager conceded it was “nice.” His club won the three games, sweeping the Reds to open baseball’s second half.

The convenience did not last another day. First baseman Mark Teixeira was not in the Yankees’ lineup Monday due to a Grade 1 lat strain on his left side. Teixeira will miss “three or four games” and the Yankees are confident the ailment will be alleviated by a platelet-rich plasma injection he was scheduled to receive later Monday so he can avoid his second stint on the disabled list this season.

“Hopefully the back responds really well to PRP,” Teixeira said. “It that happens then hopefully I’ll be back soon. If not, it might take a few more days after that.”

Teixeira, 34, first felt discomfort in his back in Oakland on June 13 and was a late scratch from the lineup the next day. He returned June 15 and has played through various back spasms since. But, as Teixeira explained, the pain “ratcheted up” after Sunday’s win over Cincinnati, enough to warrant an MRI, which revealed the mild strain. He theorized the idle time during All-Star break could have worsened the injury.

“We didn’t really know what we were dealing with,” said Teixeira, who is making $22.5 million this season. “We thought that hopefully it would feel better after the four days off, but unfortunately it felt worse. That’s kind of what happens when you shut down for a little while. The blood’s not flowing, you don’t have that adrenaline pumping through your body and it becomes worse. I think that’s what we saw this weekend.”

The setback is the latest of several in what has become a frustrating season for Teixeira, who missed 147 games in 2013 with a wrist injury. The first baseman, battling wrist discomfort since reporting to spring training after major surgery last summer, landed on the disabled list after four games with an adductor strain. In addition to the wrist, he has since dealt with a series of nagging ailments, including a tight groin and a sore knee that he had drained at the beginning of the month.

In all, he has played in just 76 of the Yankees’ 97 games, but still leads the club in home runs with 17 and runs batted in with 48. His .443 slugging percentage is also tops on the team.

“It’s tough,” Teixeira said. “I thought the year off last year would kind of give me a fountain of youth and it’s just made me rusty. I’ve used that word a few times this year; that’s the way it feels. It’s been something. Every game, it’s something.”

MCCANN GIVEN DAY OFF

Teixeira isn’t the only slugger absent from the Yankees’ lineup Monday. Catcher Brian McCann, surging at the plate recently, was given the day off to rest. Francisco Cervelli got the nod to catch rookie Shane Greene’s third career start.

After a miserable start to the season, McCann has been the Yankees’ best hitter in July. The Yankees’ $85 million investment is hitting .352 with an .831 on-base-plus-slugging percentage in his last 13 games and won Sunday’s game against the Reds with a walk-off bloop single.

“You can’t kill him or you’ll wear him out and then he won’t swing well,” Girardi said, explaining his decision. “Cervy and Greenie have had a good little mixture going so I figured today was a day that I’d give him off. He played night, day, day, and that’s some tough games.”